T3: My way
by Atari-chan
Summary: Set after T2 in the year 1997. John is sent to a juvenile detention centre where he meets a group of kids who know more about him than they should.
1. Chapter 1

_This chapter's mainly an introduction to the new characters, telling you about them and their past and stuff, so it may drag on a little I'm afraid. Oh and this is set after T2 in the year 1997. _

Okay, explanation! After the events in T2, John went on the run with Sarah for a while; since they'd be like arrested for doing all the stuff they did, but they got caught afterthe aforementioned while.Sarah was sent back to Pescadero, since they all think she's crazy, and John . . . well, we'll find out!

Start Story:

"Arms in the air please."

"Excuse me?"

"Arms in the air, kid. We have to body search you."

"Yeah, not fucking like-" John Connor started to say, then broke off, catching sight of the electric shocker the orderly held, "okay," rolling his eyes, he raised his arms above his head, not taking his eyes off the zapper for a second. He waited as his pockets were checked, but protested as they grabbed his bag, "Hey!"

"We have to search it, kid, you could have some dangerous stuff or something," he was told as the second man, who wasn't holding the shocker, went through the bag.

"Yeah, right," John said sarcastically, nearly objecting to the use of the name 'kid', but reminding himself that he'd rather be called that than be at the wrong end of the zapper.

"What's this?" the orderly who was going through his bag asked, holding up John's hacker computer.

"Personal planner," John replied, having been searched by the police before. He wasn't exactly going to tell them what it really did; it couldn't be legal.

"Odd piece of technology for a kid like you," the orderly with the shocker, who's name was Darren, said, raising his eyebrows.

John shrugged as best he could with his arms above his head, "My foster parents though it would help me to be more organised; you know, get to school on time. Or get to school at all."

The orderly going through his bag, who was called Larry, put the 'planner' on a table, then tipped the bag upside down, so the contents poured out onto the table. Looking through the pile of things, he picked out a lighter and two packs of cigarettes.

"You never heard of lung cancer?" He asked, holding them up.

"They're my mom's," John pointed out, going to put his hands in his pockets, then raising them again as the zapper seemed to move closer.

"I'm sure they are, kid," the orderly, finding nothing else of interest in John's bag, repacked it but kept the cigarettes, then handed it to another orderly named Ben, who nodded, then gestured for John to follow him. He did so, leaving his arms above his head and keeping his eyes on the shocker until he got out of sight, before grabbing his bag, and slinging it over one shoulder.

"Sorry about that; they do that so often I don't think they realise you have feelings," Ben said, opening a door, allowing John through and then locking it behind them, "We're not all like that," he added as an afterthought.

"I'm sure," John replied sarcastically, "I suppose we don't get our own rooms here."

"'Afraid not. You'll be sharing with one of our older boys, his name's Federico Reese. He's a good kid; didn't do much but he refused to let his girlfriend stay here without him so blew up Darren's car."

"He sounds nice," again, John's reply was sarcastic. He couldn't help it; he didn't deserve to be here! He hadn't done anything! Well, not much anyway. Nothing that could cancel out the fact he was going to be the savior of the human race a few years from now.

"He is," Ben replied, even though he knew John was being sarcastic. They walked in silence for a few moments, and then a voice was heard from the intercom on the wall.

"All staff to the dining hall; there's a fight going on. I repeat, all staff to the dining hall."

"Damnit, not again…" setting off at a run, Ben headed to the dining hall, followed by John, who entered the huge room to find Ben, Darren and a blonde orderly he didn't recognise having to hold back a girl not much older than himself as she fought to get free. The reason for her struggle became obvious as John noticed a teenaged boy with brown hair that was styled in messy spikes, who was standing on the table in front of her, a smug smile on his face. Like all of the other kids in St. Mary's juvenile correction facility, thy were both wearing the 'uniform', which consisted of a faded grey sweatshirt over a white T-shirt, with blue trousers not unlike hospital scrubs and soft trainers; they didn't hurt as much when you kicked someone.

"What's up, Saz, can't throw off 3 measly orderlies?" smiling smugly, the boy on the table took great delight in taunting Saz, who was still trying to break free. She glared at him for a moment, before pulling her arms out of the grip of the orderlies, then knocking them all away from her with a powerful spin kick. The moment she landed, she headed for the table, jumping up before tackling the boy to the floor. Rolling to absorb the impact, Saz's torturer pinned her to the ground, "C'mon, baby, you're made of better stuff than that," he said, his voice sickly sweet.

"I'm not even started yet, Reese," Saz replied spitting upwards into his face, using the moment she caught him off balance to roll backwards, and throw him onto the floor behind her, before flipping neatly to her feet. Driving her right elbow into the face of an orderly holding a syringe and probably breaking his nose in the process, Saz turned to the boy, who John figured to be Federico. Standing up, he smiled and stretched his neck first one way, then the other, causing everyone in the room, excluding Saz, to wince as bones cracked.

"Not bad, Peterson," he complimented, wiping his eyes with his sleeve then clenching each of his fists in turn and causing everyone to flinch again as his knuckles clicked, "But I'm not down yet."

"Not yet," Saz agreed, going into a defensive battle stance before launching herself at Federico, who waited until she almost got to him then sidestepped, extending a foot to trip her over. She did so, but rolled and landed on her feet then shot a low kick at his ankles that swept his feet out from beneath him and left him lying on the floor. Before she had time to react, however, two orderlies grabbed her from behind, and held her arms behind her back. Rolling her eyes, Saz lifted her feet up, planted them on the edge of the table then pushed. She knocked the orderlies backwards and landed on top of them.

"Thanks," she said as she got to her feet, only to be caught in one of Federico's famous headlocks. Even the orderlies couldn't get out of this without sustaining injury or using a shocker, so naturally everyone thought the fight was over. Saz, however, thought differently. Grabbing the neck of his shirt, she tipped forwards and threw him over her shoulder. The next thing Federico knew, he was lying on the floor, feeling like someone had smashed his spine in with a sledgehammer. Despite this, he managed to move his arm and push Saz's feet out from under her like she had him earlier. Before she could get up or even move, a needle was stabbed in her arm and tranquillisers injected. Unable to move due to the clouds in her brain, she passed out.

Change scene:

"That better have been worth it, Lil'!" Federico rubbed his shoulder, which he'd landed on when Saz threw him to the floor after he'd got her in that headlock, "Saz got shoved in solitary for a week 'cause of it, and I can hardly move 'cause she threw me so many times!"

"Don't worry, 'rico, I got a lot of stuff," Reaching under her bed, Lily, Federico's girlfriend, grabbed a box from underneath a loose floorboard. She was blonde, and had big blue eyes that made her look innocent, but Federico knew she was far from that. No one who got into St. Mary's was innocent; it was a centre for the cases no one else wanted. Lily wasn't wanted because she had experiences in her past she'd never recover from, and they came back to haunt her; trapping her inside a metaphorical black box so she could wake up in the morning covered in blood, without knowing what, or who, it came from. Since she'd started going out with Federico, however, she'd stopped completely. When she asked her therapist what he thought about it, he told her that during his years of research, he'd discovered that it was not time that healed all wounds, but love.

Federico, however, wasn't here because no one else wanted him, he was here because he refused to let Lily go anywhere without him. He'd been at the same Home as Lily before she nearly killed their foster mother's daughter Nicole, and he had completely fallen in love with her, even though he was only 8 years old at the time. When she was charged with attempted murder 2 years after they met, Fed was accused of withholding information, and they were both sent to separate therapists, and kept apart. Having been with him for such a long time, Lily couldn't cope with their separation, and ended up attacking one of her therapist's other clients with a knife without even knowing she was doing it. Surprisingly enough, the therapist suggested she be sent to a juvenile detention centre, and Lily got dumped in St. Mary's.

Well, when Fed found out she'd been moved, he went after her; there was no way he was letting his girl get away from him. He was the first kid ever to try and get into a juvenile centre, but it got him what he wanted. He was given a 3-month detention for breaking and entering, and then a 2-year sentence for what was described as 'dangerous vandalism'. Fed didn't think it was dangerous; no one had been in or near the car when it exploded, but he wasn't complaining. He even denied the charges, even though 17 people had seen him do it, his fingerprints were on the car and they found identical explosives in his room, so he'd get to stay in there longer.

"Well that's good, Lil', 'cause you know Saz isn't gonna get out early for this one. She broke Carl's nose, and Jim and Greg bruised their spines or something when she pulled that trick with the table. That's a week minimum, and you know she hates being by herself," moving onto Lily's bed, Fed put his arm around her.

"Of course she hates it, she gets bored out of her mind, but she won't be in there for a week, 'rico. She's too annoying. No one can put up with what she puts him or her through," Lily snuggled up to her boyfriend, pulling his arm down so she could check his watch, "We'll have a chat with her at dinner; she'll be okay."

"If she's not then she'd better take it out on you."

Change scene:

"Can I come out yet?" Saz sat on her bed, leaning against the wall of her cell. She knew Phil the guard could hear her; the door had a window-shaped hole in it, so the kid in the room could actually get some oxygen. There were no windows in her small cell, and the only furniture was a bed that was only marginally more comfortable than the floor, a toilet and a washbasin. It was the ultimate punishment; solitary confinement with no one to talk to and nothing to do for up to a week. Still, Saz had been in there so often she knew exactly what would drive the guards crazy.

"Can I come out yet?" Saz repeated, smiling slightly. Phil was ignoring her, but he'd have to say something eventually, even if it was to tell her to shut up. He couldn't use violence on her; that was illegal even here, and even if he tried she could overpower him and claim self-defense. 4 years of martial arts training had taught her all she needed to know, "Can I come out yet?" she said again, hearing the rustle of a newspaper, "Can I have your crossword?" she asked, knowing he'd try anything to shut her up. A few moments later she heard a ripping sound, then the puzzle page was shoved through the hole in the door, "Can I have a pen?" she made sure everything she said was a question; he couldn't say anything against her for that. Phil threw a pen through the hole, "Ta very muchly," she said, jumping up and grabbing it. Within minutes she'd finished, "I'm done!" she said, going over to the door and pushing the paper through the hole, "Can I come out yet?"

"You're finished already?" Phil picked up the piece of paper and looked at it. The crosswords were all finished, printed in Saz's neat handwriting and ready for him to send off so he could win that holiday to Hawaii, "You're good, kid," he said, pocketing the piece of paper.

"I know," Saz replied, "Can I come out yet?" she looked through the hole in the door, blinking innocently.

"Hey, you know I'd let you out if I could," Phil said, even though he wouldn't let that psycho child out if his life depended on it, "But I can't."

"I'm bored. Can I come out yet?"

"Sorry kid, you're staying there," Phil went over to the other side of the room, where a newly installed coffee machine stood, and fed some coins into it.

"Can I have some coffee?" Saz asked, finding an opportunity to annoy Phil with something different this time.

"No," Phil replied as his cup filled up with the watery crap this machine claimed to be coffee.

"But I like coffee."

"It's not for you, kid, it's for the guards who have to put up with you."

"I'm not a kid. I have a name. And I want some coffee," Saz retained her innocent expression and looked at Phil, her blue eyes starting to fill with tears. She didn't cry, of course, she never cried, but Phil had a daughter of his own and he hated it when Saz cried, because it reminded him of the fact that she was just a girl, like his Dana.

"Oh c'mon, Saz, don't cry," Phil looked at her.

Saz pouted, managing to look cute despite the bruise on her cheekbone, "It's just some coffee," she said, "It can't do any harm. And I can't talk when I drink," she smiled and took the cup Phil put through the hole, "Thanks."

"Drink up and shut up, kid," Phil, now feeling annoyed that he'd given in to Saz's act, sat down again and took up his paper. Saz tried to think of something mature to say back to that, but gave up and just stuck her tongue out at him before sitting down on her bed to drink her coffee.

"Am I gonna lose my visit on Wednesday?" she asked, remembering that her foster mother had promised to come and see her. Having lost her parents when she was very young, Saz was very close to Robert and Sila, her foster parents, who had looked after her since she was only a year old. Even though Saz had been arrested for dangerous underage driving when she crashed Robert's company car into a tree, they still came to visit her. True, Sila did come more often than Robert, but then she didn't have to work 10 hours a day.

"Probably," Phil replied.

Saz leaned back and hit her head against the wall, making a mental note to kill either Federico or Lily. She wasn't allowed visits very often; the orderlies assumed that since she only had foster parents instead of blood relatives she didn't want to see them as often, so she looked forward to the few times when Sila came to see her. To Saz, every day in St. Mary's was the same; get up; exercise; have breakfast; sit around; have lunch; get into a fight with Fed if more supplies are needed, sit around if not; have dinner (or not depending on the outcome of the fight); sit around; go to bed again, only to do the same thing again the next day. It sucked after a week, and Saz had spent the last two years of her life doing it. If variety was the spice of life, then Saz's day was about as spicy as Phil's newspaper. Visits gave her a short break from her dictated life, and even though it was only a short break, it was better than nothing. Anything was better than nothing.

End chapter

_And yay I'm done! That last scene with Saz was kind of pointless but it gave you some insight into the way she acts and stuff. Well, this has to be short since my time on the computer is over, so I'm just gonna say I made cookies for those who review! holds up plate of cookies_

_(Small print: Food poisoning caused by the Terminaisha's baking is not covered by any form of life insurance.)_


	2. Chapter 2

_Summary: Set after T2 in the year 1997. John is sent to a juvenile detention centre where he meets a group of kids who know more about him than they should._

Start Chapter 2:

"So you're the new kid, huh?" standing in front of John, the muscled skinhead known as Scuzz gave the younger boy his meanest glare, "We like new kids, don't we Russell?"

"That we do boss," a tall, rather thin boy with shoulder-length brown hair said, smiling in the way a weasel would if weasels could smile.

Also smiling, Scuzz cracked his knuckles. John, who was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall with his legs stretched out in front of him, looked up at the three boys in front of him, shaking his head to get his hair out of his eyes. He knew that he was going to get beaten up, but he had learnt from his own experiences that it was best not to show how scared you were, so stared obstinately back at Scuzz.

"You want to know why we like new kids?" Scuzz asked, not breaking his eye contact with John for a second as the younger boy stood up.

"Well I'm getting the strangest feeling that you're gonna tell me anyway," John said, tilting his head slightly.

His smile broadening, Scuzz looked at the lackey on his left; a blond with pale blue eyes, "Why do we like new kids, Zack?" he asked.

"We like new kids . . ." Zack paused, moving closer to John, who glared at him, "because they'll fight, they got more attitude, and because they got more stuff," he smiled a smile that would have turned most girls into mush. He was one of the oldest kids in the centre, with the sort of bad boy look most girls went crazy for, although his ear and eyebrow piercing had closed up, and the wax he usually used to spike his hair wasn't permitted. He was one of the oldest as well; younger only than Federico and Scuzz, and had there been any girls other than Lily, who was taken, and Saz, who was, well, Saz, he would have been a major love interest.

"Have you got nothing better to do than beat me up?" John raised an eyebrow. Scuzz, Zack and Russell exchanged a look.

"Nah…" Scuzz replied, and then punched him in the stomach.

"Six days," Lily observed, "Longer than most of us thought."

"Who won?" Fed asked, raising an eyebrow as Lily pulled a tightly folded piece of paper from its hiding place inside her shirt.

"Liam," Lily replied, "he was closest with five."

"They don't usually leave it that long," Fed commented, "Well I'd better help the poor kid. Doesn't talk much, but he's alright," pushing himself away from the wall he'd been leaning against, he made his way across the courtyard to where John was being held upright a few inches off the ground by Zack, while Scuzz and Russell were both taking it in turns to punch him in the stomach, making a kind of competition out of who could provoke the most entertaining reaction. They'd obviously been hitting John around the face, as his lip and nose were bleeding, and he had a bruise forming on his cheekbone.

"Leave him alone, ya fucking losers," grabbing Russell's hair and the back of Scuzz's shirt, Fed pulled the boys backwards, away from John, then slammed their heads together, a rather hollow thud resounding before both boys fell to the floor, having been pulled off balance when Fed grabbed them. Hardly sparing them a glance, Fed stepped over them, cracking his knuckles as he stood in front of Zack, who was weighing up the situation in his mind. Considering that Fed had left both Scuzz and Russell on the floor after only one hit, he reluctantly dropped the practically unconscious John into Fed's arms before scarpering, sharpish. Scuzz and Russell followed suit, holding their heads and muttering threats under their breath.

Lowering John to the ground, Fed watched sympathetically as the younger boy proceeded to retch up his partly digested breakfast. This combined with the blood dripping from his nose and lip made John a rather sorry sight.

"Ouch… they usually go easy on the new kids," joining the two boys, Lily knelt down beside John and pushed his hair back so it didn't get in his way. His breathing ragged due to the fact inhaling hurt like hell, John finally managed to control his stomach and sat up, giving Lily a weak smile of thanks as she handed him a tissue.

"Only because they can't threaten someone who's in the medical room," Fed reasoned, folding his arms across his chest as he watched John trying to staunch the steady flow of blood pouring from his nose, "And I think that might be where you'd be better off, squirt. Can you stand?"

"I'm fine," John replied darkly, wincing as he realised how much talking hurt and then grimacing as he swallowed blood. Making a feeble attempt to get up, he winced again as the movement made his stomach twinge. Fed and Lily exchanged a sympathetic look, and then turned in unison as a door slammed on the other side of the courtyard, and two orderlies emerged, looking rather annoyed.

"Oh shit…" Fed muttered, as the orderlies headed towards them.

"Alright Reese, what'd you do?" the first orderly asked, attempting to look threatening but failing; although this was partly owing to a broken nose he'd received earlier on in the week, courtesy of a certain Ms Peterson he'd attempted to sedate.

"I did what you told me," shrugging, Fed glared over Carl's shoulder at Scuzz, Russell and Zack, who were observing the situation from across the courtyard, grinning widely.

"I don't call this looking after him, Federico," the other orderly, who through a long chain of coincidences happened to be Ben, arched an eyebrow.

"Hey, I stopped them beating him up, didn't I?" Fed shrugged.

"According to Russell, Zack and Steven, you were the one doing the beating," Carl pointed out.

"I don't believe in taking advantage of people smaller than me," Fed informed him, grinning as John objected to his comment with a "Hey!" that promptly directed attention from the apparent culprit to the obvious victim.

"Holy f… rench fries," Ben stopped and corrected himself as he remembered how he wasn't supposed to set a bad example. Tilting John's chin up so he could inspect the damage, he ignored the impatient look he was receiving from the teen, who was now able to stand by himself as long as he ignored the stabbing pains in his stomach.

"Okay, let's get you cleaned up," Ben said eventually, gesturing for John to follow him as he led the way inside.

Feeling rather redundant since Ben had taken over, Carl gave Fed and Lily a final glare before stalking off.

The two teenagers exchanged a look, and smiled. Carl had to be the meanest, most annoying orderly in the centre, and pissing him off had become almost a game among the braver kids. Apparently Fed and Lily were winning.

Change scene:

John returned to the dining room that evening with few visible signs of his earlier injuries. Besides the cut on his lip and the bruise on his cheekbone, he looked fine. The pains in his stomach were small enough to ignore, the bruises there hidden by his shirt and his hair covered the cut next to his eyebrow.

Collecting his food, he joined Federico and Lily at their usual place in the corner of the room.

"Hey John," Lily greeted him with a smile as she always did, causing Federico to turn and face him.

"Johnny boy, 'sup?" grinning at the younger boy, Fed gestured for him to sit down, "It's your lucky day, squirt. Tuesday. Know what that means?" he took the time John used to reply as an opportunity to eat some more of his fries before Lily did.

Sitting down, John thought for a moment, "Litter pickup?" he suggested randomly, arching an eyebrow. To his surprise, Lily nodded, looking a little impressed.

"You're fast, squirt. Litter pickup. Now, you arrived on Wednesday- not the best day to arrive 'cause I was making an idiot out of myself getting beat by a girl, but whatever. Where was I? Ah, Wednesday. This means?" he paused to let John figure it out. It was probably annoying the kid, and he knew it, but he had to keep himself entertained somehow.

John looked blank, but knew that Federico wouldn't continue unless he gave it a try, "It's about a week since then?" he suggested, wincing as he went to raise a sarcastic eyebrow.

"If you lick cuts they'll heal quicker," Lily thought she'd mention through a mouthful of food, noticing John's pain, "Lions do it," she added informatively, smiling as John frowned and stuck his tongue out in a mock attempt to lick his eyebrow. Obviously failing this, he licked the back of his hand and wiped it across the offending area.

"Lil', I'm talking," Fed pouted cutely at Lily, who rolled her eyes and nodded, returning to her food, "Good girl," he said, clearing his remaining food onto her plate.

"'Rico, you need to eat too," feeling guilty, Lily gave Fed's food back to him. He arched an eyebrow, unconvinced, and Lily followed suit, "I can manage on mine, you know that. This place'd get sued into the next world war if I died, don't worry," leaning across the table, she kissed Fed on the cheek, "Talk to John," she prompted, nodding in the younger boy's direction, "You've got something to tell him."

"Oh, right, yeah," forgetting surprisingly quickly about Lily's apparent welfare, Fed continued his conversation with John where he had left off.

"You're good, kid, it's been a week. Now, this fight I had with Saz. I didn't get punished, right?" for once, he didn't wait for an answer, much to John's relief, "but unfortunately Saz did. She's in solitary, been there since Wednesday. Now, the staff don't want fewer slaves than usual on their litter pickup now, do they? Means they might actually have to do some work for a change. So?" he looked at John expectantly.

"So…" John paused, giving the impression he was thinking to please Federico, although he'd known what was coming for a while now; he'd heard some of the staff talking about it while he was in the medical room, "She gets let out a day early?" he suggested, a hint of a question in his voice as an addition to his charade.

Looking pleased, Fed nodded, "You got it. They couldn't have her out for Saturday's duty, defeats the whole object of being in solitary confinement, but Tuesday? It's only a day early, makes no difference, right? Right. So if you're gonna do something that'll get you shoved in solitary for a week, do it Wednesday, Friday or Sunday. Best piece of advice I can give you, 'cept for the whole not bribing of Carl. He'll take your stuff then get you shoved in solitary for corruption, stealing, whatever depending on the stuff and where you got it. Lost 3 packs of Saz's cigarettes that way a while back; she was one unhappy bunny…" pulling a face, Fed offered Lily his last chip, which she declined. Shrugging, he ate it himself.

"Speaking of Saz . . ." Lily started, "Guess who's back," She smiled at the approaching girl, who was looking carefully neutral as she made her way to her usual seat next to Lily; a sure sign that she was pissed off about something. Taking a seat, she pulled the cheese and pepperoni off her pizza, and then passed her plate and the rest of her food to Lily in exchange for her plate, which was empty apart from her own pizza toppings. Because Saz's foster mother paid money to the centre every year, Saz received privileges, among which were the deserts she got at lunch and dinner. In exchange for half of her chocolate doughnut, the cheese from Federico's pizza was added to Saz's collection.

Understandably, John was a little freaked out by this. Lily smiled at him.

"Saz is a picky eater," she explained, "She doesn't eat a lot of different things, so we swap what she likes for what she doesn't."

Not feeling terribly convinced but nodding all the same, John looked at Saz, who was staring at her plate, seemingly rather moody. Frowning, John wondered why Saz was acting so differently to the rather pleasant, talkative- if a little cold at times- girl Federico had described so often.

"So, Saz-meister, what's up with you?" Federico asked, having apparently made the same observation as John, Saz looked up at him, her expression neutral as it always seemed to be.

"I lost my visit next week, and it's the only day off Robert can get before Christmas," Saz said by way of explanation, leaning her elbow on the table and resting her cheek on her palm as she continued to eat. She spoke with little expression or emotion, and John got the impression that this was her way of handling loss or pain; hiding it from the rest of the world as though she didn't want to trouble them. He made a mental note not to get her pissed off enough to release all of this energy on him; he'd seen what she'd done to Federico last week and didn't feel like going through that himself.

"Ouch. Sorry babes," Fed sympathised, unable to console his friend from across the table but smiling in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. A little more capable than her male companion, Lily put her arm around Saz, who leaned her head on Lily's shoulder, staring at the table for a moment. A moment later, however, her disposition changed completely.

"But since we're getting out of here soon it doesn't matter anyway," she said cheerfully, smiling now although it wasn't quite as bright a smile as it could have been.

"That's it, Saz, keep the right attitude," Fed grinned, stuffing his share of Saz's donut in his mouth whole. Lily gave him a reprimanding look, and he looked guiltily at the table.

Saz smiled slightly, obviously glad to see her friends again after a while without them, and then frowned slightly as she noticed Federico's companion.

"Who's this?" she asked, nodding in John's direction.

"Oh yeah. Saz, meet John Connor. John, this is Saz," Federico introduced the two twelve year olds to each other, who both nodded a greeting, smiling in what seemed to be a friendly manner although they were both slightly guarded.

"Your mom's pretty cool, huh?" Saz said, her eyes not leaving John's as she watched his reactions, considering his ability as part of the group.

John was quiet for a moment, remembering all his mother had done during her life, and all she had done for him, "Yeah. I guess she is."

Change scene:

"Hey, something's going on out there…" staring out of the window, Lisa frowned as she saw the car pull up outside, straining in an attempt to see around the bars that adorned the window. She failed miserably, and returned to her thoughts having attracted the attention of no one in the room. Across the room, three other women exchanged a look; Lisa was always trying to make more out of life than she was ever going to get. Everyone in the common room knew that they had problems that would prevent them from living anything remotely similar to a normal life, and they all dealt with it in their own way; most of them choosing to accept their fate while a couple of them- such as Lisa- tried to remain optimistic. It was a futile attempt; anyone who had spent any amount of time in even the minimum security section of a mental institution like Pescadero would be unlikely to lead a very successful life after their release.

A few minutes later, however, it began to seem as though Lisa may have had a point. Something was going on, and that something was a visitor. Immediately, the hopes of almost everyone in the room leaped, thinking that this visitor could be there to see them. However, there was one woman who sat in the corner, completely unaffected by the prospect of someone from what was increasingly known as the 'outside world'. She continued to read her paperback book, merely glancing up as Doctor "call me Carly" Paterson opened the door.

"Sorry, girls, we've only got one visitor for one of you," she smiled brightly and checked her clipboard. Fourteen pairs of expectant eyes- and a pair of disinterested ones- looked at her. Fourteen prayers were left unanswered.

"Sarah Connor?" Carly looked around the room to see nothing but disappointed expressions. She chewed her lip nervously, hoping that disappointment wouldn't lead to rage as it had done on occasion in the past, and then smiled broadly as she recognised the figure in the corner, who was calmly placing her book on the table next to her and beginning to stand up. She thought it was a mistake; there was only one person who would visit her in her new 'home' and he wouldn't have been let out of the latest juvenile delinquent center forced into taking him a few days ago.

"Hello Sarah," the ever-annoying Doctor Silberman greeted her as she reached the visitor's area, smiling in almost convincing happiness to see her. Sarah glared at him.

"You've got thirty minutes, Sarah. Remember the rules," the doctor opened the door to the closely watched visiting room. Sarah may have been moved to minimum security since her capture, but she could tell by the mounted cameras and mirrored walls that they weren't about to take any chances.

Continuing to glare at Doctor Silberman, Sarah stepped into the brightly white room in front of her, although she might as well have left it open considering that anyone who wanted to- and more besides- could watch it anyway.

"Ms Connor," her visitor greeted her calmly, gesturing for her to take a seat.

Sarah's eyebrows shot up into her fringe. Maybe it wasn't a mistake after all.

"Call me Sarah," she replied, obviously surprised but taking a seat across from her visitor despite this. Placing her hands flat on top of the desk (this being one of the many rules in the visiting room) she was slightly unsure of what to say. This problem, however, was solved for her as her visitor spoke first.

"I want to help," she said simply, "What can I do?"

Taking in the serious expression of her companion, Sarah had to use all of her willpower to follow the plan she'd decided on the moment she'd been caught by the police.

"I don't know what you mean."

End

_Oooooh, mysterious stranger. Who d'you think it is? Hopefully you don't know, because that would spoil my fun, but you can guess anyway to keep me entertained. So yeah, celebrate, chapter 2 is finally uploaded! It would have been uploaded sooner but my internet stuffed up last night... but yeah. Keep the reviews coming, I love getting feedback, even if it isn't very good. And I'm kind of expecting some that isn't great because I've actually hardly gone anywhere yet and I said I'd have action in this chapter. Well it'll be in the next one. It will. Hooray!_


End file.
